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| Brent Dancey with the Huskies in 2002 |
When you see the recent media buzz involving former Saskatchewan
football star Brent Dancey out in Alberta, you can definitely see the political
world can be a mean and tough one.
For those that have long memories in the wheat province,
they can recall that Dancey was a stellar defensive end for the Regina Rams,
when they were still in the Canadian Junior Football League, from 1995 to 1997
and the University of Saskatchewan Huskies from 1998 to 2002. The quarterback
sack specialist helped the Rams win the Canadian Bowl for CJFL supremacy in
1995 and 1997.
Following the run with the Rams, he was a key figure in helping
the Huskies win the 1998 Vanier Cup and the Hardy Cup in 2002 for a Canada West title victory. The 2002
post-season run saw the Huskies fall in the Vanier Cup to the Saint Mary’s
University Huskies.
In Alberta, right-wing columnist Ezra Levant is trying to
blind side Dancey with a Ray Lewis massive style hit in the political arena.
Most that knew Dancey from his time with the Rams and
Huskies wouldn’t have been aware that he became the chief of staff to Shannon
Phillips, who is the minister of environment and parks and is also responsible
for the status of women in Alberta’s NDP government, just before the middle
June.
Levant revealed in late June on his website that Dancey was sentenced
to nine months in jail after he was convicted of assault causing bodily harm in
1994. On that same web post, Levant started a petition asking Rachel Notley,
who is the Premier of Alberta, to fire Dancey.
The CBC later reported that Dancey was pardoned for the
crime in May of 2005, and the documents from the courts in Saskatchewan were released
to Levant by mistake, because they were sealed.
Dancey was 18 when he was involved in an assault at a party
in 1993 in Regina.
I knew Dancey when he was with the Rams and the Huskies. I
last saw him in 2002, so at first, I wasn’t sure if the person Levant went
after was the same person that was a standout on the gridiron. I received that
confirmation from a couple of media sources including talk show host John
Gormley.
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| Brent Dancey (#46) puts pressure on Rams QB Mark Anderson. |
I think it is safe to say that most of the people that
played for and were involved with the Rams and Huskies during those years were
unaware of Dancey’s conviction. There might have been one or two individuals
from each program that might have known.
The Dancey I remembered was far from a hardened and violent
criminal Levant tried to portray. When I first met Dancey in 1997, I remember
he had a reputation for being a wild man with regards to partying and riding
motorcycles, but he had calmed down a lot during his time with the Rams. The
party stories were all fun and happy type stories.
He was an aggressive competitor and a wild man on the field.
He took a few unnecessary roughness penalties, but he always apologized to the
coaches for those mistakes.
Off the field, he was really respectful, analytical and
intelligent. I remember young women used to like hanging out with Dancey in
social settings, because they viewed him as having a brain and not as a dumb
jock.
With the Huskies, Dancey, who stood 5-foot-11 and weighed
about 210 pounds back then, was a model citizen, one of the team’s captains in 2002
and he graduated with his honours in English and history in 2003.
Anyone who knew Dancey in his post-secondary football days
has a whole host of good memories of him. If his conviction became widely known
with either the Rams or the Huskies, I believe it wouldn’t have been a big
deal. The best aspect of elite sports teams is they are forgiving, and the Rams
and Huskies were full of players back then that were characters with character.
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| Brent Dancey (#46) is left in the dust of Rams RB Neal Hughes. |
The reaction would have been so what, you are productive and
you are fine now. Let’s move on, because that is in the past.
Unfortunately in the political world, your old sins are
always brought to the forefront to work against you. Levant did his best to
dump on Dancey and said Dancey shouldn’t have anything to do in connection with
the status of women. Levant also had a problem with the fact Dancey was not a
natural Albertan and was brought in after formerly working as a special advisor
to cabinet on energy issues for Manitoba’s NDP government.
What Levant is doing in all reality borders on being a witch
hunt. If Dancey had a whole string of convictions since that 1994 conviction,
then there might be reason for the public to be concerned. His record has been
clean since that conviction, and he has long past the point of being allowed to
go on with his life.
I remember sitting in the newsroom of the Medicine Hat News
and hearing police do checks on people who had a long list of violent convictions
and upcoming court dates, and those people were still on the streets. I would
be more worried about those people as opposed to a person that committed one
crime and was pardoned for it.
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| Brent Dancey (#46) and the Huskies get the Hardy Cup in 2002. |
I also realize there are people out there that believe any
person that is convicted of just one crime no matter what it is should be
placed under punishment permanently or should almost be given a death penalty.
If someone in a case like Dancey’s isn’t given the chance to
get back into society and do good, it opens the door to do more harm.
As it is, Dancey’s conviction is over two decades old, and
it should have been left in the past. He has more than earned the right to no
longer be haunted by this ghost.
The 9/11 interviews that gave me goosebumps
During my career in the media, I can’t even count the number
of interviews I have forgotten about, but two I recently did for the Saskatoon
Express definitely rank at the top.
The Canada Remembers Our Heroes Airshow, which runs all day
Saturday and Sunday at the Auto Clearing Motor Speedway in Saskatoon, plays
host to the 9/11 Never Forget mobile exhibit. The exhibit, which will be seen
for the first time outside of the United States, is a 53-foot tractor-trailer,
which unfolds into a 1,000 square foot memorial about the infamous terrorist attacks
in New York that includes artifacts, documentary videos and recordings of first
responder radio transmissions.
Accompanying the exhibit to Saskatoon is retired New York City
firefighter Herbert Penner, and his son and current New York City Fire
Department member, Michael. The two will give tours of the exhibit.
I interviewed the Penners about their experience that
fateful day. Herbert worked the day of the tragedy, while Michael was a
freshman student in college and saw his morning English class for that day get
cancelled.
It was unreal to hear both give their first-hand accounts
from that day. You can check out that story right
here.
NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race hits
speedway
The upcoming hump day will be a great day for the Auto
Clearing Motor Speedway.
This coming Wednesday the local track hosts its most
anticipated event of the year as the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series stops in with
the Bayer CropScience – Velocity Prairie Thunder 250.
The Canadian Tire Series
is a minor league circuit that prepares drivers to compete one day on NASCAR’s
top level – the Sprint Cup circuit.
The field for Wednesday’s race, which starts at 6 p.m., will
included about 34 cars including a Ford driven by Edmonton product Erica
Thiering, who is one of two regulars from Western Canada on the circuit. I
caught up with Thiering for the Saskatoon Express that story can be found right
here.
The NASCAR stop is a two-day event. This coming Tuesday at 7
p.m., three local classes hit the track for the Street Stock Wes Skakun
Memorial 50, the Super Late Model Bryce Mann Memorial 75 and the Family Pizza
Pro Truck 100.
